American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States, landing at San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base in Texas early Friday morning.
Griner, who was released from Russian detention on Thursday in a high-profile prisoner exchange, landed at about 3 a.m. local time.
She was then transferred to a medical center.
Friday marks the first time Griner has set foot in the United States since Russia imprisoned her 10 months ago. Her freedom followed months of negotiations between Washington and Moscow.
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Griner was released in a prisoner exchange with Russia in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “merchant of death.”
“He’s safe, he’s on a plane, he’s on his way home,” Biden said Thursday.
BRITTNEY GRINER RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON IN EXCHANGE FOR CONVICTED ARMS DEALER
Cherelle Griner, wife of Olympian and WNBA player Brittney Griner, speaks after US President Joe Biden announced her release from Russian custody, at the White House December 8, 2022 in Washington. , DC.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The president made the announcement from the White House accompanied by Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and administration officials.
The deal was finalized after Russia showed it was unwilling to release US citizen Paul Whelan, a Marine and Iraqi war veteran Russia arrested in 2018 for allegedly doing intelligence work, the White House said. Whelan was convicted in 2020.
“This was not a choice for us about which American to bring home. It was a choice between bringing home an American or none at all,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
The exchange sparked some backlash as Bout was previously convicted of selling weapons used in the murder of Americans.
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“He was someone who had conspired to sell AK-47s that he knew would have been used to kill Americans: American drug enforcement agents. Law enforcement officials may not be happy about his release. What is the president’s message? for them and others who are essentially saying this was a bad deal?” a White House reporter asked Jean-Pierre.
Jean-Pierre responded: “The president felt a moral obligation to bring Brittney home. There was an opportunity to do it, and it was either Brittney or nobody at all, and we’re not going to apologize for that.”
Bout has already returned to Russia when Russian television showed him walking from a plane on a snow-covered runway in Moscow.
His mother and his wife were there to greet him.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
